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There has been a relatively new trend in the league in the past few years. Players are now GM'ing, recruiting, and plotting to team up, sometimes years in advance. Tampering rules have become unenforceable, and contracts have become unenforceable too. Not every player can pull this off obviously, only high impact players can get away with it. Some recent examples of this trend, manifested in different ways:
Paul George - As a non-free agent, asked out of Indiana to play in LA. Got traded to OKC, stayed the year, signed a 4 year deal with OKC, then a year later asked to be traded to LA.
Jimmy Butler - As a non-free agent, forced his way out of Chicago, then forced out again out of Minesota. Had a "short list" of teams he wanted to play, composed of the NY & LA teams. Landed in Philly for a year, now in Miami.
Kawhi Leonard - As a non-free agent, asked out of San Antonio to go to LA (near where he grew up). Landed in Toronto, played hard on his contract year giving the team a championship, then became the first finals MVP in league history to leave for a different team after winning it. In Free Agency, actively recruited Kevin Durant & Paul George (non-free agent) to play in LA, reportedly leveraging the Clippers and Raptors vs each other to inflate the payout for Paul George high enough so he could be extracted from OKC, and play with him in LA.
Kyrie Irving - As a non-free agent, asked to be traded out of LeBron's Cleveland after winning a championship.
Anthony Davis - As non-free agent, asked to be traded to LA, explicitly saying he wouldn't sing anywhere on a long term, undermining his team's leverage during the forced trade.
Kevin Durant - As a free agent, left OKC to join an already established super-team in Golden State. In the following Free agency, teamed up with Kyrie Irving in NY.
LeBron James - Likely the pioneer of this trend, has been GM'ing and actively tampering since his Miami days, generating friction within front offices, locker rooms and coaching staff in both Cleveland and in LAL, recently actively/openly recruiting non-free agent Anthony Davis.
This is a pretty controversial topic and people have different opinions on it. Personally, I find the trend highly disturbing. I'm all for player empowerment, players make the league after all, but I also think there's a time and place for that, and it's called Free-Agency . There's something fishy when I player can say, hey "give me 4 years of guaranteed salary, regardless if I fall short on the court, or rupture my Achilles at home (like John Wall) AND I also want to be able to be out of here whenever I feel like (with that money remaining guaranteed), and I want to be free to solicit and be solicited whenever I want, getting paid the same if go somewhere else "
Given enough seasons of this trend intensifying, this can severely cripple the parity in the league, with eventually 2 super teams in NY & LA, while the other 26 teams become farms to feed them talent. Not everyone sees it that way though. What do you think?
A. I like it. I enjoy seeing the offseason cajoling and like the idea of superteams. It's good for the league.
B. Meh. I don't necessarily like it, but it's a players league. I'll worry when a team in NY or LA actually wins a title with a concocted superteam
C. It's a concern. The league thrives on parity and competition and this free-for-all hinders it. Do what you wish in free-agency, but while under contract, honour it, and earn the $ and term the team gave you.
D. Not necessarily a problem for the league, but it's annoying. I want to see top-end players competing and trying surpass each other, rather then taking the easy way and ganging up together.
Paul George - As a non-free agent, asked out of Indiana to play in LA. Got traded to OKC, stayed the year, signed a 4 year deal with OKC, then a year later asked to be traded to LA.
Jimmy Butler - As a non-free agent, forced his way out of Chicago, then forced out again out of Minesota. Had a "short list" of teams he wanted to play, composed of the NY & LA teams. Landed in Philly for a year, now in Miami.
Kawhi Leonard - As a non-free agent, asked out of San Antonio to go to LA (near where he grew up). Landed in Toronto, played hard on his contract year giving the team a championship, then became the first finals MVP in league history to leave for a different team after winning it. In Free Agency, actively recruited Kevin Durant & Paul George (non-free agent) to play in LA, reportedly leveraging the Clippers and Raptors vs each other to inflate the payout for Paul George high enough so he could be extracted from OKC, and play with him in LA.
Kyrie Irving - As a non-free agent, asked to be traded out of LeBron's Cleveland after winning a championship.
Anthony Davis - As non-free agent, asked to be traded to LA, explicitly saying he wouldn't sing anywhere on a long term, undermining his team's leverage during the forced trade.
Kevin Durant - As a free agent, left OKC to join an already established super-team in Golden State. In the following Free agency, teamed up with Kyrie Irving in NY.
LeBron James - Likely the pioneer of this trend, has been GM'ing and actively tampering since his Miami days, generating friction within front offices, locker rooms and coaching staff in both Cleveland and in LAL, recently actively/openly recruiting non-free agent Anthony Davis.
This is a pretty controversial topic and people have different opinions on it. Personally, I find the trend highly disturbing. I'm all for player empowerment, players make the league after all, but I also think there's a time and place for that, and it's called Free-Agency . There's something fishy when I player can say, hey "give me 4 years of guaranteed salary, regardless if I fall short on the court, or rupture my Achilles at home (like John Wall) AND I also want to be able to be out of here whenever I feel like (with that money remaining guaranteed), and I want to be free to solicit and be solicited whenever I want, getting paid the same if go somewhere else "
Given enough seasons of this trend intensifying, this can severely cripple the parity in the league, with eventually 2 super teams in NY & LA, while the other 26 teams become farms to feed them talent. Not everyone sees it that way though. What do you think?
A. I like it. I enjoy seeing the offseason cajoling and like the idea of superteams. It's good for the league.
B. Meh. I don't necessarily like it, but it's a players league. I'll worry when a team in NY or LA actually wins a title with a concocted superteam
C. It's a concern. The league thrives on parity and competition and this free-for-all hinders it. Do what you wish in free-agency, but while under contract, honour it, and earn the $ and term the team gave you.
D. Not necessarily a problem for the league, but it's annoying. I want to see top-end players competing and trying surpass each other, rather then taking the easy way and ganging up together.
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